Portage Park

Portage Park warmly welcomes patrons with a decorative gateway entrance at the corner of Irving Park Road and Central Avenue and an expanse of lush landscaping. Many Chicago residents choose Portage Park for their wedding ceremonies and special outdoor occasions because of its natural, scenic beauty. The 36.5-acre park is much more than a pretty picture-it´s the site for hundreds of valuable sports, early childhood recreation and cultural programs, as well as fantastic family special events. In the heat of summer, Portage Park is the place to keep cool. Its Olympic-size pool features a large deck for sunning, misting sprays, an interactive water play area with slide and diving boards. The park also contains a smaller heated pool.

Portage Park offers something for every kind of play-six tennis courts, two playgrounds, a slab for in-line skating, a bike path, a nature walk, five baseball fields, two combination football/soccer fields and two fieldhouses-one housing a gymnasium and the other a cultural arts building. For youth, programming includes an exemplary after-school program, woodcraft, recreational tumbling and gymnastics, floor and roller hockey, music and a wide range of sports each season. The park is also unique in offering a sign language class.

Adults can get involved with a walking or senior club, stay fit with an aerobics or conditioning class, or explore their creative side with lessons in piano, concert band or woodworking. Portage Park was recently selected by the Department of Aging for the development of a new, 6,500-square-foot senior center to be completed in 2003.